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Wayne Allyn Root (born July 20, 1961) is an American conservative television and radio host, author, activist, conservative political commentator and
conspiracy theorist A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...
. He is the host of two new television shows, daily at 7 PM ET on Lindell TV network (FrankSpeech.com) and Saturdays at Noon ET "America's Top Ten Countdown with Wayne Allyn Root" on Real America's Voice TV Network. He is also the radio host of "Wayne Allyn Root: Raw & Unfiltered" on AM 670 in Las Vegas and nationally-syndicated on the
USA Radio Network USA Radio Network is an American mass media company, specializing in long-form spoken word (talk radio) and radio newscasts, produced and distributed with a generally conservative focus. USA Radio Network produces and distributes 24-hour news, n ...
, and formerly on
Newsmax TV Newsmax TV is an American conservative television channel owned by Newsmax. The network primarily focuses on opinion-based talk shows. It carries a news/talk format throughout the day and night, with documentaries and films on weekends. During ...
. Root was an opinion columnist for the '' Las Vegas Review-Journal''. His newspaper columns are currently nationally syndicated on Sundays by Creators Syndicate. Root was the vice presidential nominee for the
Libertarian Party Active parties by country Defunct parties by country Organizations associated with Libertarian parties See also * Liberal parties by country * List of libertarian organizations * Lists of political parties Lists of political part ...
in the 2008 presidential election. In 2012, he left the Libertarian Party, rejoined the Republican Party, and endorsed and voted for Mitt Romney and
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
in 2016 and 2020. He later expressed regret for his support of Romney, but has remained a staunch supporter of Trump. Root is the CEO of the publicly traded company VegasWinners.com, (WNRS symbol) who recently partnered with the MGM Hotel's BetMGM.


Early life and education

Root attended the
Thornton-Donovan School The Thornton-Donovan School (TD) was founded as the New Rochelle School and Kindergarten in New Rochelle, New York. It was founded by Judge Martin Jerome Keogh in 1901. The first teacher and headmistress was Emily Scott Thornton, a Philadelphia ...
in New Rochelle, New York and was a member of the class of 1983 at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, studying
pre-law In the United States, pre-law refers to any course of study taken by an undergraduate in preparation for study at a law school. The American Bar Association requires law schools to admit only students with an accredited Bachelor's Degree or it ...
and
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
. In June 2016, Root described himself as a "Jew turned Evangelical Christian". As of November 2016, Root described himself as Jewish, and says he considers
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
to be the first Jewish president, in the same sense that
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
was often called the "first black president".


Career

Root worked for
WNBC WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo stati ...
radio (now
WFAN WFAN (660 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York, carrying a sports radio format known as "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM" or "The Fan". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the New York metropolitan area while ...
) in the early 1980s. From 1989 to 1991, he worked with the
Financial News Network The Financial News Network (FNN) was an American financial and business news television network that was launched November 30, 1981. The purpose of the network was to broadcast programming nationwide, five days a week for seven hours a day on t ...
before its subsumption into
CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...
. Root was founder and chairman of Winning Edge International Inc. In the 2000s, he hosted ''Wayne Allyn Root's Winning Edge'', a television show which promoted Root's sports handicapping operation. Root co-hosted ''
King of Vegas ''King of Vegas'' was a gambling series that first aired on Spike TV in the United States on January 17, 2006. It was hosted by boxing commentator Max Kellerman and co-hosted by handicapper Wayne Allyn Root, who gave color commentary and his odds ...
'' on Spike TV. He produced ''
Ghost Adventures ''Ghost Adventures'' is an American paranormal and reality television series that premiered on October 17, 2008, on the Travel Channel before moving to Discovery+ in 2021. An independent film of the same name originally aired on the Sci-Fi Cha ...
'' on the
Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...
.


Politics

Root had been a longtime Republican Party member and supporter who self-identified as a Libertarian Republican. He ran for a seat on the Westchester County Board of Legislators in 1983. In 2007, Root ended his association with the Republican Party and joined the
Libertarian Party Active parties by country Defunct parties by country Organizations associated with Libertarian parties See also * Liberal parties by country * List of libertarian organizations * Lists of political parties Lists of political part ...
. Root's book outlining his libertarian views, ''The Conscience of a Libertarian'', was published in 2009.


2008 presidential campaign

On May 4, 2007, Root declared his candidacy for the Libertarian Party's 2008 presidential nomination. On May 25, 2008, Root advanced to the fifth ballot of the Libertarian Party presidential nomination vote at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention before being eliminated and endorsing
Bob Barr Robert Laurence Barr Jr. (born November 5, 1948) is an American attorney and politician. He served as a federal prosecutor and as a Congressman. He represented Georgia's 7th congressional district as a Republican from 1995 to 2003. Barr attai ...
, who became the party's presidential nominee. Root then became the Libertarian Party vice presidential nominee, securing the nod in the third round of voting for that nomination. Though in the same graduating class as
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, Root has stated on a number of occasions that he has no recollection of having met or seen Obama at Columbia. He has "stopped short" of actually claiming that Obama did not attend Columbia. In 2010, Root ran for the position of chair of the
Libertarian National Committee The Libertarian National Committee (LNC) controls and manages the affairs, properties, and funds of the United States Libertarian Party. It is composed of the party officers, five at-large representatives elected every two years at the national ...
of the Libertarian Party. He was defeated by Mark Hinkle by a vote of 228–281 in the third round. He subsequently succeeded in being elected to the
Libertarian National Committee The Libertarian National Committee (LNC) controls and manages the affairs, properties, and funds of the United States Libertarian Party. It is composed of the party officers, five at-large representatives elected every two years at the national ...
as an at-large member. At the
2012 Libertarian National Convention The 2012 Libertarian National Convention, in which delegates of the Libertarian Party (LP) chose the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2012 general election, was held May 2–6, 2012, in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the Red R ...
, Root again was elected to the Libertarian National Committee as an At-Large Member, despite being seen by some LP members as being part of the "top-down faction." The party's 2012 presidential candidate and former Republican New Mexico Governor
Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He served as the 29th governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for Presid ...
endorsed Root.


Return to the Republican Party

In September 2012, Root resigned all Libertarian Party positions, re-joined the Republican Party and endorsed Mitt Romney in the
2012 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January ...
. He predicted Romney would win the election against incumbent president
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
, citing, among other factors, that the "Enthusiasm Factor" for Romney was "huge". Root had announced that he intended to run as a Republican candidate for the
U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
in Nevada in 2016, for the seat held by retiring Democratic Senator
Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017 and was the Sena ...
. However, he did not run. He supported and voted for Republican nominee
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
in the
2016 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kiri ...
and 2020 presidential election. Root was the opening speaker for Trump's rally in Las Vegas in late October 2016 during the presidential campaign. At the rally, Root, suggested that he wished ill upon
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
and
Huma Abedin Huma Mahmood Abedin ( ur, ; born July 28, 1975) is an American political staffer who was vice chair of Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign for President of the United States. Before that, Abedin was deputy chief of staff to Clinton when she was U.S ...
, hoping they met the same ending as ''
Thelma & Louise ''Thelma & Louise'' is a 1991 American road crime comedy-drama film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khouri. It stars Susan Sarandon as Louise and Geena Davis as Thelma, two friends who embark on a road trip that ends up in unfores ...
''. The lead characters in the film take their own lives by driving off a cliff. In his speech, Root said "Trump warriors" armed with "pitchforks, jack hammers and blow torches" would violently take over Washington D.C.: "We're coming to tear it down. We're coming to rip it up. We're coming to kick your ass. And we're coming to put you in prison", he said referring to a fantasy he had about Clinton and Abedin.
Kellyanne Conway Kellyanne Elizabeth Conway (née Fitzpatrick; born January 20, 1967) is an American political consultant and pollster, who served as Senior Counselor to the President in the administration of Donald Trump from 2017 to 2020. She was previous ...
, Trump's campaign manager, later told CNN that Root's "conduct is completely unacceptable and does not reflect our campaign or our candidate". In August 2019, Root praised President Trump. Following Trump's assertion that Jews voting for the Democrats show "either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty", a comment which was rejected by his critics who said he was following an antisemitic canard, Root countered the claim. Root said that "Trump is the greatest President for Jews and for Israel in the history of the world, not just America, he is the best President for Israel in the history of the world...and the Jewish people in Israel love him like he's the King of Israel. They love him like he is the second coming of God." Later, President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
thanked Root on
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
for "the very nice words" and shared what was said about him. In October 2019, while speaking at a pro-Trump conference in Miami, Florida at the Trump National Doral Miami, Root reportedly boasted about a time in his childhood when, as one of the few white students at a predominantly black high school, he knocked one classmate unconscious and shattered another kid's teeth. "My buddies and I were high-fiving and laughing," Root reportedly said during his speech. "Man, it was funny." He reportedly went on to say that "you've got to be a natural-born killer" to win in politics.


Criticism and controversies


Promotion of conspiracy theories and falsehoods

Root is known for spreading
conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...
and false information. Root was a leading proponent of the conspiracy theory that President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
was not born in the United States. Root falsely claimed that Obama was not a student at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. He later stated in a 2012 interview with
Sean Hannity Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American talk show host, conservative political commentator, and author. He is the host of '' The Sean Hannity Show'', a nationally syndicated talk radio show, and has also hosted a commen ...
that he believed Obama was a "foreign exchange student" there. He has repeatedly described Obama as a "Marxist, anti-American, anti-Israel, globalist, middle class-hating, Muslim sympathizer". In 2017, he claimed that Obama was gay, called him "Bathhouse Barry" and said that he had info from Obama's "friends in Chicago" about his "sordid past". In 2014, he described Obama as a "Manchurian candidate", possibly hired by the
Bilderberg Group The Bilderberg meeting (also known as the Bilderberg Group) is an annual off-the-record conference established in 1954 to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. The group's agenda, originally to prevent another world war, is now defi ...
to destroy the United States and "kill all of us". Root promoted conspiracy theories around the
murder of Seth Rich The murder of Seth Rich occurred on July 10, 2016, at 4:20 a.m. in the Bloomingdale neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Rich died about an hour and a half after being shot twice in the back. The perpetrators were never apprehended; police ...
, and at various times suggested that
Debbie Wasserman Schultz Deborah Wasserman Schultz (née Wasserman; born September 27, 1966) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from , first elected to Congress in 2004. A member of the Democratic Party, she is a former chair of the Democrat ...
, Hillary Clinton, Donna Brazile, Bill Clinton,
Eric Schneiderman Eric Tradd Schneiderman (born December 31, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 65th Attorney General of New York from 2011 until his resignation in May 2018. Schneiderman, a member of the Democratic Party, spent ten year ...
and
John Podesta John David Podesta Jr. (born January 8, 1949) is an American Political consulting, political consultant who has served as Senior Advisor to the President of the United States, Senior Advisor to President Joe Biden for clean energy innovation an ...
were involved in the murder. During the white supremacist
Unite the Right rally The Unite the Right rally was a white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, from August 11 to 12, 2017. Marchers included members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-fascists, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, ...
, Root falsely claimed that blaming white supremacist James Alex Fields Jr. for killing Heather Heyer was "such B.S. Probably paid actors & infiltrators hired by
Soros George Soros ( name written in eastern order), (born György Schwartz, August 12, 1930) is a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist. , he had a net worth of US$8.6 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated mo ...
. No conservative I've ever met commits violence. EVER." On the night of the
2017 Las Vegas shooting On October 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old man from Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire on the crowd attending the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in . From his 32nd-floor suites in the Mandalay Bay hotel, he fired ...
, in which 58 people were shot and killed by
Stephen Paddock Stephen Craig Paddock (April 9, 1953 – October 1, 2017) was an American mass murderer who perpetrated the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. Paddock opened fire into a crowd of about 22,000 concertgoers attending a country music festival on the Las ...
(including himself) and 2 of them shot by Paddock later died of their injuries in 2019 and 2020 respectively, Root tweeted: "Clearly coordinated Muslim terror attack." Police later determined only one shooter—a non-religious American—was involved. In 2018, Root argued that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election is motivated by "
penis envy Penis envy (german: Penisneid) is a stage theorized by Sigmund Freud regarding female psychosexual development, in which young girls experience anxiety upon realization that they do not have a penis. Freud considered this realization a defining m ...
", because "Mueller's is smaller than Trump's." On February 6, 2021,
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
permanently suspended Root's account for "violating Twitter rules". In July 2022, Root debated journalist Isaac Saul at Freedom Fest in Las Vegas, arguing that the 2020 United States Presidential Election was stolen and that
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
should run for president again in 2024. During the debate, Root promoted, among other ideas, that COVID-19 vaccine injuries were being concealed by the government; that millions of illegal immigrants were voting in US elections and tipping them in favor of Democrats; that multiple states coordinated to stop counting on election night 2020 until more illegitimate ballots could be found to favor the election of Democrat Joe Biden; and that Las Vegas Culinary Union tactics are the only reason Democrats win elections in
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
, which he believes to be otherwise almost entirely Republican.


Legal problems

On , Chief Health Care Bureau Lisa Landau and
New York Attorney General The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government o ...
Letitia James ordered Root to stop advertising My Doctor Suggests, LLC on KBET and
USA Radio Network USA Radio Network is an American mass media company, specializing in long-form spoken word (talk radio) and radio newscasts, produced and distributed with a generally conservative focus. USA Radio Network produces and distributes 24-hour news, n ...
citing violations of state laws on deceptive acts and practices. On April 29, 2020, Gordon Pedersen of My Doctor Suggests LLC and GP Silver LLC was ordered by the
United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...
(DOJ) under the
Trump administration Donald Trump's tenure as the 45th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican from New York City, took office following his Electoral College victory ...
to permanently stop advertising and selling all of these products out there. A hearing on the government's request for a preliminary injunction was set for May 12, 2020. The products were discontinued and the website was permanently shut down as a result.


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * *


References


External links

* * * * Interview on Wikinews
YouTube page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Root, Wayne Allyn 1961 births Living people 2008 United States vice-presidential candidates 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American politicians 9/11 conspiracy theorists American columnists American conspiracy theorists American finance and investment writers 20th-century American Jews American male non-fiction writers American motivational writers American podcasters American political writers American Protestants American talk radio hosts American television personalities Male television personalities American YouTubers Candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election Christian libertarians Christians from Nevada Christians from New York (state) Christians from Utah Columbia University alumni Fake news Journalists from Nevada Journalists from New York (state) Journalists from Utah Libertarian Party (United States) vice presidential nominees American male YouTubers Moon landing conspiracy theorists Nevada Libertarians Nevada Republicans People from Henderson, Nevada People from Mount Vernon, New York People from Park City, Utah People from Summerlin, Nevada Radio personalities from the Las Vegas Valley Utah Libertarians Utah Republicans Writers from Mount Vernon, New York